FREE ESSAY ON MARIJUANA

MARIJUANA

Cannabis Sativa (marijuana) has been thought to be an illegal and very harmful drug for
many years. But as you read this report you will learn that marijuana has been around for
many years (most years legal) and isn't as harmful as some people may think.
Marijuana has been used for many things in the past, including medicine, hemp rope, crude
cloth and enjoyment. Now it is mainly used as a narcotic. Marijuana is an illegal weed
that grows up to eighteen feet tall with little or no cultivation. The plant has many
branches that extend with large, hairy, pointed leaves with saw tooth edges. Marijuana
grows wild all over the world and in some states and countries it's legal. Cloth and rope
are made from the stem which contains a tough fiber called hence. The mind-altering drug
in marijuana is called Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannibinol, or THC. The mildest form of
marijuana contains between zero to three percent of THC. Most of the THC is contained in
the resign, which is secreted around the flowers, seeds, and topmast leaves. Until
recently it was thought that only the female plant contained the drug. But it is now
known that both the female and the male plants contain THC. THC stays in the body for
about 28 days.
Marijuana can be prepared many different ways therefore it has many different ways of
entering the body. When smoked the THC goes into the lungs, directly into the bloodstream
and to every cell in your body. The effects depend upon the level of potency and how much
is consumed. The main effects of smoking are: the heart rate may increase from 80 beats
to 150 beats a minute, the bronchial tubes enlarge and become relaxed allowing extra
oxygen to enter the body, giving a High like feeling. There are no immediate
physiological effects. The feeling usually lasts from one to three hours. Marijuana can
also be ingested as a drink, cakes, brownies or many other foods. When consumed in foods
the effects start after one half-hour and last from three to four hours. The potency of
Marijuana has increased at least ten times or 275% since the 1960's. Marijuana can be
measured by it's therapeutic ratio, (the difference between the size of the dose needed
for the desired effect and the! size that produces poisoning). The therapeutic ratio in
marijuana has yet to be found. 
The negative long term effects of heavy marijuana use are, possible lung cancer, heart
attacks in juveniles, strokes in people under forty, and it depletes the brain of
serotonin and the user may lose his sense of well being or may become depressed. The user
may lose his short-term memory, but after a week of not using it is usually regained.
High Times Magazine. Marijuana contains about 400 chemicals that break down into 2000 or
more. One joint contains as much tar as fourteen cigarettes. Human Relations Media The
traditional medications used to treat AIDS sufferers cause a wide range of side effects.
Virtually the only medicine capable of treating the entire spectrum of side effects
without causing harm to the user is marijuana. 
There are now 30 diseases listed under the condition known as Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome, AIDS. Most AIDS sufferers will contract several of these 30 during the course
of their illness before finally succumbing to one of them. The traditional medications
used in both their treatment and as prophylaxis-or prevention-cause a wide range of side
effects, including loss of appetite, nausea, headaches, depression, pain, disorientation
and fevers. Virtually the 
only medicine capable of treating the entire spectrum of side effects without causing
harm to the user is marijuana. Naturally, it remains illegal. Provided by the High Times
website.
Marijuana is one of the oldest and widely used drugs in the world. It is the second most
popular intoxicant, next to alcohol. There are two hundred million users in the country,
and sixty million say that they have tried it. Only 40% of high school students graduated
in 1995 without ever trying it. Approximately 33% of people who try it become regular
users within three to five years. 
Smugglers traveling to the U.S.A. from Columbia, Jamaica, and Mexico bring in five
billion dollars worth each year. Recently a large ship was spotted off of the U.S. coast
unloading thirty-three tons of marijuana onto American soil. 
There have been over 9 million arrests for marijuana-law violations in the United States
since 1965, with another arrest every 2 minutes. Over 80% of these arrests are for
possession for personal consumption, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports. Many
of the 20% that are labeled sale/manufacturing in the FBI's report actually involve
cultivation for personal use or possession of an amount large enough (usually over an
ounce) that the police infer possession with intent to distribute, even though it might
actually have been for personal consumption.
But in Singapore and Malaysia it's another story. There, the death penalty is handed out
to anyone in possession of drugs. In twenty years two hundred and fifty people have been
hung for possession.
Marijuana can be used for more than just the illegal use of getting high. As you have
read, it helps in medicine and the stem can be used to make clothes or rope. Marijuana is
one of the mildest drugs out there and the one of the only drugs that serves another
purpose besides a trip or a buzz.